The Other Monster
"The Other Monster" is a Season 4 thread from February 19, 2015. Summary Full Text The Warden refused to look back at the rebels’ encampment as she made her way through the snow, to a good place to contact the Archon for assistance. She fingered the aura of blue-violet around her horns once again, marveling at the change. I really am shifting, ''she mused, eyes flicking back upwards. Nalaagura frowned at the sight of a camp in the distance, one made for armies on the move. ''What could that be…what could it ''mean, ''now that is the question… From where she stood, she could see the busy movement of soldiers and errand boys bustling about. A passing soldier stopped in mid stride, seeing her as she drew close. He slowly drew a shining blade from his scabbard. “Halt there…” he said cautiously. “You’re a demon…you’re on the wrong side miss. Those sword to Hel are in that direction, his is an Odin encampment.” he called, gesturing back towards the fortress. Odin…? The Warden chuckled melodiously. I care not for the decrees of gods, mortal. Only… She frowned at him. ”Sworn to Hel?” What are you babbling about?" "No offence ma’am but last I checked demons were interesting to gods, just like mortals are, varying degrees of course. So whether or not you care for them or not does not change the fact that you, being a demon made by Hel, are automatically enlisted in Hel’s army. So I will have to ask you to leave unless you are here for diplomatic reasons." The guard sighed. "As for the sworn to Hel comment. Our regiments Judge just recently tried to enlist those rebels over there to Odin’s cause. But the meeting went sour when the one in charge there agreed to Hel’s terms instead. So we had to leave." …no. They. Did. What? ' She turned her head to glare at the fortress, anxiety bubbling within her. ''What on earth would possess the king to agree to such a thing…? '''Yes, '''she growled, turning back to the guard. I am ''here for diplomatic reasons.' ”I’ll take you to the Judge then,” The guard said, still looking a touch wary. “Follow me.” He walked into the encampment area with the Warden. As they walked, other soldiers would look up from their tasks, frowning or muttering to themselves. The soldier glanced at them, and then back at the Warden. “They know you are a soldier of Hel. Now you seem reasonable to me, but I should remind you not to give us any reason to cut you up. Because we can do that you know, demon or not, we trained in Valhalla…we can hold our own.” Consider me warned, '''she said disinterestedly, peering at the so-called Valhallan soldiers. '''And stop calling me that. I choose no sides in this war. I only wish to speak to your leader concerning this…this deal with Hel that my y—that those idiot rebels have made. The soldier huffed with a shake of his head. “Ok then…” he pushed open the tent, calling. “Protective positions!” he barked. “We have a diplomatic demon here to speak with Judge Donz.” Right away a room full of long spear soldiers shifted into position, leveling the spears and getting shoulder to shoulder with each other, making a wall between the Warden and the Judge. Two bowmen in the back of the room knotted arrows, standing at the ready. Orskaf sat in a small seat, his helmet and gloves were off, and his eyes were squinted at the Warden. “Demon…” he said, straightening as he inhaled. “I don’t suppose this little meeting of ours has anything to do with that arch demon I met with? Or perhaps you are here on other matters?” The Warden dropped her pupil-less eyes down to meet his, folding her arms tightly and curling her lip, porcelain cracking. I am not aware of this archdemon you speak of, she sniffed. Nor do I have any dealings with them. I came to ask what you are doing in such close proximity—here she stabbed a finger towards the ground—'to the camp of the rebels'—she pointed out where the ice fortress lay in the distance—'and why you are offering them deals. Why ''Hel is offering them deals. ' ''Especially after we just cleared up matters with her… ''she added silently in her head. A larger guard with long, stringy black hair and scruffy chin and neck snorted slightly at the question as to why they were there. The Warden of course noticed, and saw that the man was not quite stable on his feet, and appeared to be in some marginal pain from a previous injury. ”Pipe down,” Orskaf grumbled at him, and the guard blinked once, nodding. The Judge leaned back in his chair. “We are a human regiment from Odin’s army. My job is to enlist as many people as possible to our cause before another gods does. We enlist people until the gods decide to butt heads on the earth, we call these particular events ‘days of reckoning.’ On these days the gods fight, we humans get mowed down, the next regiment comes in, picks up survivors and the whole process starts all over again.” the man shrugged. “We came to enlist that rebellion…and they denied.” he waved a hand. “That’s all I need to tell you. You are aligned with Hel or at the very least those rebels and I have no desire to disclose privet military information to the enemy.” Leaning forward, Nalaagura unfolded her arms and clenched her fists.''Private military information…what a pompous, blown-up walking corpse. ''She frowned as she noticed the guard shifting weight and instantly saw the sign of an injury. Recent. They’d been in a fight. '''And what did these negotiations with the rebels involve? '''she asked in a would-be casual voice. '''Did it involve a…squabble of sorts? '''Her temper was slowly beginning to boil. If this lot had touched ''anyone… "Of course it did…" Orskaf said tersely. He rubbed his chin. "This seems more like an interrogation rather than a diplomatic mission…What exactly are your affiliations demon? Because if they are against us, which it very much seems that way, then you could probably take an educated guess as to why I am not going to speak any further on this subject." he folded his hands again. "And if it is neutral, then you better give me a good incentive as to why we would tell you anything." I affiliate with no one, '''she snapped. '''Such a piece of trivial information that is already in the past will not harm you to tell a homeless, wayward demon. "Oh…I see," Orskaf said with a nod. "Yes, I see the logic of talking about our operations with a vagabond demon of no significant affiliation." He paused. "Oh well…let’s say I tell you…for entertainments sake? I know of the demon influence that was over the rebellion camp…you wouldn’t happen to involved in that messy affair? I recently traded a mage to an arch demon for some mildly useful information…at the time. But! You tell me your involvement, and I’ll tell you mine." She opened her mouth, and then closed it. I was trapped there, '''she said airily, which wasn’t strictly a lie. '''I was summoned and imprisoned to guard the whole lot and I’ve finally escaped their clutches. I couldn’t help but notice your presence here and came out of morbid curiosity. Now, kindly tell me what hornet’s nest you’ve kicked. "I came here to enlist the services of those rebels." Orskaf explained. "I knew the leader there would be difficult to deal with because I had just enlisted his home kingdom in the Wilderwest. Either way, I came, and we lost our tempers at each other." he ran a hand down one of his long wispy mustache strands. "I also encountered my old killer there. Some piss ant boy who beat my head in with a shovel a number of years ago, before I was sent back by Odin of course.: he huffed slightly, doing his best to hide a rueful smirk. "I taught him and his loose tongue a lesson, although he gave my guard here… um… a rather bad bite in the process." he licked his lips. "Had to leave him alive though, but not before that so called King was given a crown that he truly deserved…let’s just say he should do his best to stay away from slavers and high societies." There was a sudden, dead silence. Nala’s hands loosened and fell to her sides as though she were a puppet whose strings had been cut. Her expression was slack and she didn’t move for a few seconds. Stonegit. The word rang hard and cold, like a mallet against marble. His name…is Stonegit, 'she repeated, looking up. '''And you…you… ' She’d done very good at fixing her temper up until that moment. She hadn’t exploded in weeks and she was starting to be rather impressed with herself for the fact. But picturing dark-eyes at the mercy of this… this Judge… She went over the edge. A mental scream tore through the air and she lunged forward, claws extending from her delicate fingers. '''WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? she shrieked, baring white pointed teeth. TELL ME OR I WILL TEAR THE MEMORY FROM YOU!! WHAT—DID—YOU—DO!? All the guards in the room reacted instantly, raising their weapons and shifting their position, but Orskaf held up a hand. “Hold!” he barked. He lowered his hand, his eyes now wide an intense. There was silence, and then Orskaf leaned forward, his lip curling as his jaw jutted out at the demon, he slowly raised a finger. “He would not shut up, so I demanded that my guards remove him from the room, the so called King allowed me to do it. And then… I had that murder… raped by my guards for killing me, for killing my son, and turning my own grandchild against me. He deserved every scream that ever came from his insolent, self pitying mouth.” he lowered his hand, sitting back down. “And then I branded his owner as a slave…” The Warden’s breathing became more rapid and ragged with every word; every ounce of her essence rejected what he was saying, but it was making terrible sense, and she retracted her attempts to search his memories for surely she would find horrific images within his loathsome mind. Instead, she attempted to shove through the line of guards, a mental keening starting to echo around the room, and she was shaking with unmatched fury in her attempts to reach the judge. I’LL KILL YOU! '''she screamed. '''I’LL KILL YOU AGAIN, AND AGAIN—!! STONEGIT! ''she wailed with her thoughts, even though she knew he was too far away to hear her. ''STONEGIT!! "And we’re done here," Orskaf grumbled, standing up and walking away, guard’s filling in the empty space he left and they all pushed against the Warden, keeping her at bay. Orskaf calmly, stepped down off the small platform where the chair was place, his eyes downcast and dark. "Throw her out of camp," he said, opening the black flap to the tent and disappearing outside. The room full of guards seized the Warden’s synthetic limbs, hauling her outside and towards the edge of the camp. Throwing her to the ground, they leveled their weapons at her, ready to see if she would try to attack. She struggled violently against the guards the entire way out, but she was still new to her physical form and was unable to do anything but shriek at them. She was thrown unceremoniously to the ground outside of camp and got to her feet, furiously whirling around, practically spitting. I’ll kill all of you, '''she hissed, her violet hair beginning to flush scarlet again. '''I’ll kill ''every last one of you!! ''She dashed towards them in a furious attempt to at least scatter them. "Aih sha!" One of the soldiers yelled, and all the men shifted into a spear wall position, and then lunged forward to meet the Warden, a few of the spears smashing into some of her porcelain ligaments, driving her back. The Warden felt as the spears stabbed into her, twisting and shoving her off to the side. These men were well trained, trained enough to hold of against even a demon when in large numbers. Nalaagura gasped in pain as the spearheads penetrated the tough, exposed muscle, causing her to stumble back and cry out in pain, clutching the torn flesh. You’ll pay for this, she panted, glaring. I’ll hunt down every last soldier in Valhalla…and make them scream…watch them writhe…for what you’ve done to him…you won’t get away with this… And with that, the Warden was forced to retreat. Related Threads The Warden Moves On Contract with Hel Category:Season 4 Category:Events Category:Orskaf Donz Category:The Warden